22

Summer Strike: Episodes 3-4

Sticking out like a sore thumb, the newest resident of our small town tries to fit into the close-knit community. But some things are easier said than done, especially when said community is not exactly welcoming to newcomers.

 
EPISODES 3-4 WEECAP

Summer Strike: Episodes 3-4

This week, we continue with Yeo-reum’s (mis)adventures in the small town of Angok. Time is all she has, and she spends it fixing up her house and worrying about her dwindling savings. Living on ten dollars per day for an entire year is kinda extreme, but in her calculation, that’s the only way she can survive for a year without a job. I envy her new life of reading books all day and binging movies at night, but I don’t envy her position as the town’s outcast.

Sung-min takes the lead in Operation Frustrate Yeo-reum Out Of Town, and he recruits everyone to pick on her — from his son BAE JOON (Kim Jun) and other kids, to high schooler KIM BOM (Shin Eun-soo). Bom is the daughter of the town’s resident drunkard and while she appears prickly and slightly rebellious on the outside, she’s really just an ordinary teenager who needs an understanding adult on her side.

Bom soon opts out of Sung-min’s plan after deciding for herself that Yeo-reum is not a bad person. And Dae-beom, of course, has been team Yeo-reum from the beginning. Despite his aversion to strangers, he warms up to Yeo-reum pretty quickly, and he no longer communicates with her via written notes which is a big improvement from last week.

But Yeo-reum needs more people on her side especially after a threatening graffiti is sprayed on her building. Sung-min jumps at the opportunity to pressure her into moving out, and I wonder if he’s actually the one behind the graffiti and not the stalker from last week — who from all indications is HWANG GEUN-HO (Kim Yo-han), a resident who for some reason is not allowed by his mom to leave the house. Weird. (By the way, Geun-ho’s parents are way too eager to buy Yeo-reum’s building off Sung-min’s family, and the whole thing is suspicious.)

Summer Strike: Episodes 3-4

For someone who’s worried about her savings, Yeo-reum ends up buying a dog at an exorbitant amount from its abusive owner in a part-noble and part-impulsive decision. But I can’t really blame her because she is lonely and the dog needed saving. Plus having a dog around is better than being alone in that building, and a dog is a better family member than her older brother who emotionally blackmails her for money. Although the dog can do a better job of alerting Yeo-reum when a stranger enters the house to drop off some food.

Then again, I don’t think it’ll make much of a difference since as we saw from last week, Yeo-reum can sleep through a storm whenever she’s drunk. And it’s very worrisome that she just wakes up to eat the food without first checking who it’s from. Granted, it’s from Bom, but still. Girl, I know you’re on strike, but don’t you like your life? You could be allergic, it could be poisoned… there are so many possibilities.

Summer Strike: Episodes 3-4

There’s a thin line between bravery and recklessness, and Yeo-reum has crossed the line multiple times already. Just like I’ve crossed the line from understanding her to being frustrated by her actions. There’s also the matter of her withdrawing all her savings while drunk and losing the money. I mean, who puts cash in a plastic bag and wanders the streets at night? Sigh.

Yeo-reum panics when she realizes her money is missing, and everyone joins her in search of the missing money — from Sung-min who is surprisingly helpful, to Dae-beom who escorted her drunk self back home the previous night. At some point, Yeo-reum even suspects Bom, but she’s relieved — and slightly upset — when Dae-beom eventually finds the money, as she thinks the money was in his possession the whole time.

Yeo-reum apologizes to Bom for suspecting her, and I’m already liking their budding unnie-dongsaeng relationship. Yeo-reum soon picks up another stray in the person of Bom’s classmate HEO JAE-HOON (Bang Jae-min), who has a crush on her. Together, the trio name the dog Gyeoul (winter) based on its white fur, and the name also matches Yeo-reum (summer) and Bom (spring). I love it!

Sung-min ends up grudgingly joining team Yeo-reum after learning that Joon was the one who picked up the money thinking it was a windfall. Joon later handed it over to Dae-beom after learning it was Yeo-reum’s, and Sung-min apologizes on his son’s behalf. He might be a jerk sometimes, but he’s a good dad. He also drops off some old furniture for Yeo-reum’s use, fixes the leaky pipes in the house and reinforces the locks — which has been my biggest peeve since day one!

Summer Strike: Episodes 3-4

Yeo-reum feels guilty for lashing out at Dae-beom about the missing money. But for all that fuss she made about her money, rather than deposit the cash in the bank, she just stuffs it into a drawer, and at this point I’ve given up on her. But since the townspeople are beginning to warm up to her, she looks like she’ll be fine for the most part.

Speaking of Dae-beom, we learn that he used to live in the billiard hall when he was much younger, as his family used to run the place. But then, something seemed to have happened to his sister, and that’s another mystery the little town of Angok holds. Two weeks in, and I think it’s time the show shifts its focus away from Yeo-reum, and shed more light on Dae-beom. His story appears to be very intriguing, and the glimpses of his life here and there are no longer enough. Give me more, show!

Summer Strike: Episodes 3-4

 
RELATED POSTS

Tags: , , ,

22

Required fields are marked *

@Unit: Thank you for the weecap but I need to ask for a correction on Bom’s behalf: She was the one who installed the new pipe and fixed the leak. She has skillz! Sung min just supplied the new pipe.

4
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

Did Bom install it?

1
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

@yes.

0
reply

Required fields are marked *

👍🏾

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Pulling at puppies, real or fake, = I drop this show

3
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I really wish kdramas would stop with drunken antics and using it for comedy. It isn't cute or funny. It is mostly sad. That being said I'm glad she found some new friends and everyone is nice to her now. Hopefully the story can move forward now.

15
3
reply

Required fields are marked *

Honestly I think one more scene of Yeo-reum walking around drunk out of her gourd with Dae-beom acting like a pilot fish and I am pulling the plug.

11
2
reply

Required fields are marked *

@marcusnyc20: I agree. I am not a big drinker so I am intolerant of drunks and cannot abide constant poor decision-making facilitated/fueled by excessive drinking at whatever age. And despite the fact that I am trying not to be too judgmental of Sohyun ( my first exposure to her acting), she doesn’t seem to have a magnetic energy and charisma necessary to pull off such antics. It has become tiresome fast.

11
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Honestly, I don't know if this is the writers' intent, but she kind of falls into the 'mean drunk' category, not just 'stupid drunk'. She doesn't even seem apologetic about her dumbness. It is hard to have sympathy

6
reply

Required fields are marked *

… at this point I’ve given up on her.

Me, too - I couldn’t even make it to episode 4. Yeo-reum might as well tape a “kick me” sign to her back. Dropped.

11
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

This seems like an offspring of Run On and I'll find You When the Weather is Nice, with cousin Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, all of which I really liked. But I have to agree with you all, our heroine is less and less endearing. I too have little sympathy for her drunken antics. I haven't really latched onto any of the characters. Hopefully this will turn around in coming episodes. I really need another fluff drama!

6
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I found the bullying of YR a hard watch. Who really acts that way towards a newcomer? Because the bullying was so extreme, I found the turnaround by SM a bit hard to swallow.
And I agree with other beanies who are finding the FL becoming less sympathetic. I hope the voiceover at the end where she says she saw herself as a victim will now indicate a change in mindset and we see her becoming more responsible.
As an aside, I love the dog's name!

6
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I really like this drama. Every plan is so beautiful and soothing.

Yeorum is trying to find her own place and life pace. But there are few people who have a personal agenda.

Bae Sung-Min wants the money from the sale of the building. The family Hwang is hidding their son and doesn't want him to be found, I guess. It's crazy how just few people can make you feel unwanted...

I didn't have issue with her drunk night because she feels lonely, she's still mourning her mother, her brother is acting like a jerk about money (was he to her mother funeral?). After 4 years living like an automat, she's experiencing the opposite. She needs to find a balance but overall people she can talk to, share her feelings, make her feel they care about her.

Now, she's forming a group around her because her attitude touched people. She's sincere and cares about people and animals. I'm really excited to see her bonding more with the grandma, Bom, Bae Joon and of course An Dae-Beom. It was so funny when he dodged her. I hope he will find his way too!

4
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

After seeing comments on how this week’s episodes turned out, I can say this must be those rare occasions where I don’t have to fret at all that this drama is not airing on any of my too-many streaming platforms. This show looks like Hometown Cha Cha Cha 2.0 with the annoying villagers and stupid drunken antics of the FL minus the obnoxious Male Lead. Thankfully, Si Wan’s character doesn’t seem to be the same case here. The way the ML in Home Cha treated the FL grated on my nerves so much I had to drop it for the sake of my sanity. Seeing comments of viewers who defended the ML’s characterization that he only behaved that way because of his past trauma only made it more nauseating. How one can tolerate such behavior is beyond me. Past trauma or not, there is no excuse for rude behavior. No, not even when that guy has dimples.

For a healing drama, the writers forgot to tone down unpleasant characters and behaviors. I’ll still continue to skim through comments for Si Wan’s sake. For now, this isn’t the healing drama that I was looking for.

1
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I really want to continue watching this drama,but the FL's "drunk-dumbness" was infuriating (not that her sober-dumbness is less annoying).

I do not get why Joon's action is something to be embarassed off because he found the money, kept it and returned it on hearing the announcement. It is not like he deliberately took it all the while knowing it was her money. It is just bad writing to use it as an excuse to make his dad suddenly be kind towards Yeo Reum.

@unit Thanks for explaining the dog's name with reference to the names of the two girls because I did not understand it during that scene.

Given then end of Ep 4 and preview, Im Shi Wan's character seems to have shades of his character from "Run On", though he is making Dae Bom look entirely different. I am going to drop it at this point because the writing of the FL is terrible.

5
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I wonder how many bottles of soju you have to drink to get so drunk that you keep falling down and forgetting everything the next day. I also had my problems with the fact that losing money in such a drunken state was presented as comedy.

The partly bigoted inhabitants of the small town almost drove me up the wall. They accuse Yeo-reum of some far-fetched misconduct, but are themselves absolutely deceitful.

Since there is now a winter (dog Gyeoul), a summer (Yeo-reum) and a spring (Bom), I am curious whether an autumn will also appear.

7
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

"There’s a thin line between bravery and recklessness, and Yeo-reum has crossed the line multiple times already. Just like I’ve crossed the line from understanding her to being frustrated by her actions."

Thank you @Unit . You summed it up perfectly for me.

In all my little kdrama-watching life, drunk scenes have never annoyed me as much as it did while watching this episode.

I was really expecting this to be a feel good, little town drama but alas...

At this point, the less I see the FL, the better I feel. More of Dae Beom, please!

7
1
reply

Required fields are marked *

Yes, made me wonder why Dae Beom was attracted to her. Their only interactions so far include her mistaking him for a man, and her doing stupid, obnoxious things when she's drunk! What does he find attractive? And you'd think she would have learned after the first time getting locked in the library that she and alcohol do not work well together.

1
reply

Required fields are marked *

I've dropped this for now due to the same frustrations that everyone has expressed, but I will still follow the recaps in the hope that it will turn around. I really like Im Shi-wan and refreshing small town romances. I even like mysteries! Maybe now that Yeo Reum has more of a support system, she can start healing. What happened to the Yeo Reum that enjoyed swimming so much?

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I'm pretty sure Yeo-reum would meet criteria for alcohol use disorder based on the episodes we have so far. She really needs to stop drinking. Also, I hate the townspeople minus Im Si-wan, Bom, and Bom's grandmother. The landlord hasn't won me over yet.

1
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I get that she's just trying to do whatever she wants and not think about what other people think of her but I think she should stop drinking or at least stop drinking to the point of drunkeness.

Even if she wanted to leave, I'm fairly certain she didn't need to take out her entire savings in cash to do it. And I get that I shouldn't try to rationalize a drunk person's thoughts but seriously, nothing she did made any type of sense.

How could that woman call herself a pet owner treating the dog that way?! And wasn't there another dog there too? Clearly, even the dogs had the sense to run away.

I don't like the blond guy. Even if the son had told him first, I don't fully believe he would've given the money back because that's just more proof of her having terrible luck in that space.

And I didn't like her giving money to him for doing stuff he should've done anyway. He gave her some furniture out of guilt and I'm supposed to feel all is forgiven when he actively tried having people harrass her into leaving? When he told her to fix any problems herself and even caused the problem he told her to fix?
I honestly thought he was responsible for the graffiti. And I didn't understand why he had a front row seat to everything. Why he got to watch the security footage with her as well as following her to the library and that story.

I'm curious about the librarian's past but I'm not necessarily intrigued enough to need to know about it. I'm assuming some kind of burn out but I don't know how that would involve his sister or being mute around strangers.

The "pet owner" is so unlikable. I wonder what the need for the billard space is about.

0
0
reply

Required fields are marked *

I really wanted to like this drama... but there are so many things happening that make totally no sense. The FL simply acts random... There is no logic in what she does... she has no normal reactions to things. And I won't go into the drunken part since everyone already talked about it in the comments. Just seriously cringe. I'll watch 2 more eps and then decide what to do... but I'm not hopeful.

1
0
reply

Required fields are marked *